During Times of Uncertainty, OCMers Need Organizational Change Management Too
As organizational change management (OCM) practitioners, we are accustomed to looking through the lens of our clients while helping them navigate change. We know that while sometimes our clients do change well, other times it is messy. However, what happens when we ourselves as professionals and as individuals experience unexpected change and are struggling to move forward? Can we apply that same set of best practices that we use with clients to move ourselves safely from point A to point B while minimizing disruption? The answer is yes. If we take the time to pause and reflect upon the learnings that we espouse in our professional lives, and apply them to our personal lives, yes, we can flatten the change curve for ourselves during unexpected times of change.
First, Be Kind to Yourself.
Recognize that the change you are going through is real. Unexpected change can impact every single aspect of your life and may hit you in multiple ways: you, your partner, your kids, your family, your job, your business, your health. While this advice is seemingly self-help-101, if you don’t overtly practice this, you risk ending up in a place that you don’t want to be in mentally and personally. We are unable to use our toolkit to successfully navigate the changes we face if we don’t first recognize where we are and give ourselves the same grace that we would extend to our clients under the similar circumstances.
Second, Break It Down.
Not sure where to start? Help yourself take the first step by breaking down the seemingly overwhelming change to its barest bones. There are some things we can’t ignore: we have to perform our jobs, we have to facilitate our kids learning, we have to get groceries, for example. However, there are likely a half of dozen other things on our To Do list, that while seemingly essential, can and should be deliberately postponed during times of intense change, so that we don’t set ourselves up for failure. In a complex time, keep things as simple as possible to position yourself for success.
Third, Set Boundaries.
Don’t lose sight of the behaviors you had in place that set you up for success prior to the major change. Like a change project, there were likely established norms and practices that clearly communicated for yourself and others what was in bounds and out of bounds. Despite the change, strive to stay true to these boundaries and behaviors, as they were likely established for a very good reason. When unexpected change first occurs, this is fairly easy to do; the change is still new, it feels novel, and we’re energized. However, as time progresses and the new normal loses its luster. It’s easy to lose sight of what worked well, and we find ourselves feeling negative and tired. We regularly talk about change fatigue with our clients and we are not immune to this phenomenon either; we must recognize that navigating change in our personal and professional lives simultaneously can be exhausting. Take time to stop and reflect, “Why am I exhausted?” Are you in Zoom meetings all day and no longer have time to process and plan? Did you collect yourself before work during your former commute and now you roll out of bed and immediately login? During an extended period of change, have you allowed your boundaries to slip or perhaps become nonexistent? Reestablish your norms, boundaries, and needs. Logoff and “leave work” every night at 5:00 instead of working from sunup to sundown. While we can’t anticipate the hurdles ahead (no matter how well we plan), with our boundaries in place, we effectively position ourselves to manage them.
Finally, Manage Your Expectations of Yourself.
When we entered our professional lives, we had givens and assumptions – society is up and running, and kids have a safe place to go and socialize, for example – that enabled us to deliver successfully in the professional space. But during the time of a large disruption, such as our current environment, the playbook has totally changed, but the expectations surrounding our jobs and the requirements of what we are supposed to deliver have not. When project givens and assumptions change, project management methodology dictates that we go back and reassess project scope and resources. However, we as working professionals find that we have new variables while the desired outcomes remain the same. It’s no wonder that many of us are left feeling like we’re set up for failure. It’s important to recognize and accept that during times of intense change, we simply may not be able to be the professionals, the parents, the individuals that we want to be. Acknowledge that it’s not you and your abilities that are lacking, but rather that the game has changed and we’re left playing with the old playbook. Take a load off and try to find peace. Manage your own expectations – realistically – of what you can successfully deliver in the new normal.
Final Thoughts
As OCM practitioners, our job is to provide clarity of what’s coming and how to best prepare for it. However, during times of uncertainty, we won’t always know what the end state will look like. We humans don’t like that and even the most flexible among us have their limits. So, remember to be kind to yourself, break down the change into manageable pieces, and set realistic expectations. Also, come to peace with the fact that, like your clients, you won’t be perfect and it might be messy, but you will foster positive outcomes if you leverage and trust in your own OCM skills to navigate your personal change.
Contact ChangeStaffing to learn how our organizational change management consultants can help your organization navigate unexpected change.
A special thanks to Kacie Lineger, Leadership Coach and Strategic Organizational Change Management expert, for her thought leadership and for collaborating with us on this blog.